The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for collecting and disposing of sharps.
Traditionally, hazardous medical waste (e.g., syringes or tubes with needles, scalpels, etc.) has been contained in plastic sharps containers and then sterilized by heating the sharps container. Often sharps (e.g., needles, scalpels, knives, etc.) end up settling at the bottom of the melting sharps container. If the sharps are allowed to sit in this position during the cooling of the plastic, the tips of the metal sharps will tend to protrude from the plastic. In some cases, sharps end up protruding about 0.02 inches to about 0.03 inches, which is enough for a user to contact and draw blood. This becomes a potential hazard to anyone handling the block of plastic and sharps.